Some of his family came into the unincorporated community west of Barstow at least 100 years ago. And White, 43, has been in Hinkley most of his life.

At times, White had as many as 100 relatives living in town.

"They would move in and out," he said.

White is the head of the town's Community Advisory Committee, a group started by PG&E that has since transitioned itself to greater independence. The committee represents the Hinkley community in dealings with PG&E and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

As the committee chairman, White is as close to being an activist as one can be in this desert town.

White believes his family has suffered enormously from the community's plume of chromium-6 contamination.

He rattles off names of relatives who died from one type of cancer or another.

White manages a mobile home park that has had a specially installed water-purification system since 2005.

He and his wife, Maricel, and his two children are protected from the dangers lurking in the water, he said.

While there is an exodus of people from this community, White has no intention of fleeing.